Ash did not answer, but shook his head decisively.
"But didn't you abandon us in the end and marry someone else?!"
If we weren't childhood sweethearts, I was the one who came first!
"I have never been in a relationship and am still single Ash."
I completely understood Yuri's mood, and just like that, Ash responded even more calmly,
"————"
The bombshell dropped by Ash indifferently instantly blocked all the words Yuri wanted to say.
"Puff——"
The sound of opening a juice can broke the immersive silence.
"W-Which ring is...?"
Yuri asked tentatively, and then saw Ash taking off the ring casually. Under the sun, there was no metal reflection on the golden surface.
"The new toy I found, really, I thought it was quite comfortable to wear on my hand."
"Well... the words you said before were..."
"It's your own misunderstanding. Don't think about blaming me."
Listening to Ash's expressionless explanation, Yuri's head couldn't help but hang down. His slightly trembling face was covered in a blush, and a feeling of extreme embarrassment also emerged from his chest.
In other words, now I have completely transformed into a BOOM truck...
Even Yuri, at this time, he had the irresponsible idea of finding that Imagin and letting himself travel through time again.
"Really, I always thought you were the most worry-free clerk, but it turns out that you usually don't cause trouble, but when you do, it's a big deal like this." Ash crushed the can he drank in one gulp, and threw a precise three-pointer into the three-point frame of the merit competition.
"So you were following me earlier and were you serious about what you planned to do?"
"The store manager... is he angry?"
"Of course I will be angry about this kind of thing." Looking up at the sky, Ash tried to find traces of Heart Tree at this time. "Not counting the possibility, just assuming that you really succeed, but the memories between you and us will all change."
"It's all just memory from beginning to end. Anyone's existence depends on memory. If you change all this, the connection between you, mine, and everyone will disappear. Do you really think this is good?"
"I..." Yuri felt dumb for a moment. Even if he really used this method to save Kolon, would it really be worth losing everything with Ash and Lei? This is simply an impossible answer!
"I am a person who often forgets. I may suddenly forget all of you one day."
With a normal tone, Ash is telling a very remarkable story.
"Sometimes you only think back to it when you are about to die, so you feel even more. If you forget the people and what happened, you will forget both the sadness and the happy times we spent together. In this case, it will be sad no matter what... huh?"
As he was talking to himself, Ash heard the intermittent sounds coming from his ears as if there was a listener beside him. At this time, tears were already streaming down Yuri's face and he was sobbing continuously.
"I... I already, don't know what to do..."
"What a crybaby." Ash and the demon Kain hiding in his body reached a rare consensus on one thing.
"Okay, okay, there's nothing to worry about. Or do you really think there will be someone more suitable for Pretty Cure's identity than you?"
"That's right!"
While Ash was comforting, a third small figure dropped from the sky and joined the conversation.
"Kain... No."
At this time, this gray little thing is the dead elf partner of Yuri, right?
"Yes, you are the most suitable person for Pretty Cure!"
Yuri, who was so flustered that he couldn't even wipe away his tears, saw the voice he had been thinking about for a long time, and once again said to himself the words that he remembered deeply.
"I am the elf Kolon of Heart Tree. I ask you to join me as Pretty Cure to defeat Desert Apostles who invaded the earth!"
Chapter 118 Please don't make me cry again
"Kelong——"
Seeing the elf falling from the sky, when Yuri subconsciously called out the name of the elf, her mood was extremely complicated.
As a companion she had not seen for a long time, and also an elf partner who sacrificed for herself, it was natural that she missed him a lot from her heart. Especially recalling every moment with Kolon made Yuri feel extremely sad in her heart, making her want to hug him as usual and talk to him about her inner anguish.
But at the same time, she thought of the moment when Kolon died in the battle, and the demon who was born under the seal of Timons and called himself Kain. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but the other emotions that came over her prevented her from doing such a thing.
"Hey, what's wrong, young lady? Do we... know each other?"
Kelong was quite confused about Yuri who could call out his name. After all, he had never seen her before... No, even so, he always felt that he and her were not strangers?
"No... I don't know, not yet..."
Shaking his head, suppressing the extremely depressed mood in his heart, Yuri took a step back.
"Ah, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. I am the fairy of Heart Tree, so I want to ask you to become Pretty Cure!"
Ash, who had been listening in, scratched his head. Seeing Kolon's solemn request to him, he grabbed it with both hands and aimed it at Yuri again.
"You are looking for the wrong person, right? If you are looking for Pretty Cure, it should be her, right?"
In fact, as Ash said, the first thing Colon noticed was actually Tsukikage Yuri. Her words were very consistent with Colon's definition of Pretty Cure, but when he took a closer look, he discovered the problem from her, or more accurately, from his heart, so he could only seek help from Ash, who unexpectedly also met the definition.
"No, I am indeed here to find you, because although this young lady has extraordinary qualities, her heart... wait, are you a man?"
Kelong, who was explaining, looked at Ash intently, and was stunned for a while before showing his shocked face.
"You didn't see it, did you... Hey, Yuri, you know what he meant when he said it to you. It shouldn't be like this under normal circumstances, right?"
"The source of Precure is the beautiful soul of a girl and the Heart Flower that blooms in everyone's heart." As she said this, she tilted her head. "The Heart Flower in my chest had completely withered as early as that rainy night."
"Is that so...?" Hearing Yuri's words gave Ash an idea, so he pretended to pat her shoulder comfortingly, but in fact, under the cover of the Kolon in his hand, he secretly threw another demon Kain, which was exactly the same as Kolon, into Yuri's body to check her condition.
After all, the devil who can't lie is the best person to spy on the true heart.
The answer given by Kain was also in line with what she said. Kain did see a withered Yuri flower in her heart, but it was slightly different from what she said...
"You said that the withered flowers actually bloomed again?" As soon as this news came out, Ash became interested.
"Yes, as for the reason, it has reached this level, you should be able to guess it, right?"
So that's it. In this case, the clues will be connected. In this way, Ash's eyes instantly turned into a look of complete understanding.
The brain cells are already firing at full speed!
"So that's it..."
"Heart Flower is a manifestation of spirit and soul. If this happens... does it mean that Yuri actually wants to marry me? That's why he was so unreasonable before."
"You actually want to be my bride... Hey, you are so courageous, you really feel that way."
Ash said with a smirk, it's not that he had any bad ideas, it's just that he remembered that when he was in many teams before, because of his good skin, he would often engage in fake marriages with pink or yellow female team members, and the result was that the woman was often kidnapped by weirdos. Thinking of this, Ash couldn't help but laugh.
'Hey, you guy, why do you say such a thing in front of others! ' Kain, who was hiding in Yuri's heart at the moment, just wanted to remind Ash. He looked at his boss in shock as he directly brought up this topic.
"! It's not like that, no, I... just like... this kind of thing... I'm not Lei and Erika... I..."
Ash's words also had a remarkable effect. Yuri's originally slightly sad face was filled with a lot of crimson in an instant, and the expression on her face was also twisted into a ball of shame, anger and sadness. She covered her cheeks in a panic and tried her best to deny and shake her head, but in view of her previous behavior, her rejection was really unconvincing.
"Do you like me?" Seeing Yuri in confusion, Ash took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and asked.
"Like-well..."
Yuri almost fainted from embarrassment, and even Ash smiled when he saw this scene.
It seemed that he couldn't bear Ash's teasing. Yuri finally let go of himself Heart's Wall, and spoke out loudly what he had been suppressing.
"I... I just don't want Ash to leave me. As the store manager, you are already an important person to us. To be taken away by another woman just because of marriage or something, I, I can't accept it!"
"I really didn't expect that Yuri would have such a strong monopoly... But to put it another way, even if I really get married, will it not affect my work in the coffee shop?"
"That's not the case!" After hearing what Ash said, Yuri, who was still blushing, became a little anxious. "Aren't you alienating us by doing this?!"
"It's like my father, who said he was going to study the legendary Heart Tree, but ended up leaving like this and never coming back... I don't want this anymore!"
After all, although he would not show it in front of other relatives, Yuri still resented the man who abandoned his wife and daughter from the bottom of his heart, so when another person appeared in his life who reminded him of his back, he became so excited about this matter.
"It looks like I'm angry." He stroked Kolon's hand and couldn't understand what he was talking about. Ash remembered the things he had seen in the Desert Apostles base, which made him narrow his eyes slightly while replying. "But Yuri, I am not a substitute, and I cannot be your father."
"... I'm sorry."
Yuri naturally knew what Ash said, but even she couldn't control her violent mood... so that now she knew clearly that Ash was right, but she still felt a little disappointed. If possible, she even wanted Ash to hug her... Eh?
Just when she was thinking of this, a warm feeling suddenly spread from all over her body. Yuri's figure, which was unstable due to the excitement in her heart, was easily pulled into Ash's arms, and her slightly tilted upper body was pressed tightly against Ash's solid chest.
It was as if an invisible energy was injected into Yuri's heart, giving her the same courage as Ash to face the present.
"However, even though this is the case, if you need it, not as someone else, but just as Ash, I hope to be your spiritual support."
"After all, I am optimistic and hope that you can become a hero. Not only what I said before, if you want me to lend you a shoulder to cry on, that's okay too, right?"
"No need..." Yuri gently pulled the man's collar. It was clear that the two of them were in close contact, but the blush on his face disappeared, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.
"I have shed enough tears for you today...Ash, can you please stop making me shed tears in the future?"
"Hahaha, I can't guarantee this."
Ash burst into laughter, but Yuri, who was close to Ash's chest with his eyes closed, failed to notice that there was no smile on Ash's face.
Chapter 119 Urataros's assist
"Damn it, where did that Imagin go?"
Standing high up with telescopes, Momotaros and others scanned the pedestrians coming and going below, searching for possible clues below.
Normally, the Imagin that returned to the past would start destroying it immediately, so there was no need to look for it. However, the Imagin that came to this world was like a stone thrown into a pond, quietly sinking to the bottom and then disappearing without a trace.
"It seems that if there is no suitable bait, the cunning fish will not take the bait easily."
Urataros, who always liked wisecracks, noticed Ash and Yuri below, and his interest was immediately aroused.
"OK, senior~ I'll leave it to you for Imagin. I'll go and see if I can be of any help."
"Wait a minute, you damn turtle is planning to be lazy again... Damn it, this time you left me alone and ran away!"
After turning around and making a farewell gesture, Urataros turned into light and flew downwards amidst the yelling and scolding of Momotaros behind him.
However, what no one noticed was that the Imagin they were looking for was actually higher above their heads.
"This world is not my world... However, destroying this place is also valuable!"
By signing a contract with Yuri, Bat Imagin, who transformed from dust into an actual body, used the wings on its back to fly in the sky and hide in the clouds to avoid Den-Liner's tracking and search.
When it first arrived, it was indeed ready to destroy everything, but it immediately discovered something even more different.
Although this is not its world, you can feel through Imagin's induction of the flow of time that there is something more valuable than other existences just above this sky!
"Ah... this is..."
After smelling the smell, after passing through the hidden clouds, I peeled back the curtain and looked at the giant tree on the floating island in front of me. An extremely terrifying smile appeared on Imagin's originally ferocious face.
The target has been found.
On the other side, his own reserve made Yuri realize what he was doing, and he was so shy that he jumped up and left Ash.
Although Yuri is very happy that the misunderstanding has been resolved, the relationship with Ash has warmed up again, and Yuri has been recognized by the other party, it does not mean that everything is a happy ending. Don't forget that they are still in the past.
Now Yuri is also beginning to reflect on the stupid things he has done unintentionally. Not to mention how he will go back, if he changes history, the consequences of the time paradox may lead to very terrible things happening.
After all, according to normal historical development, "today" when I was still a junior high school student, I should have had close contact with Kolon, who fell from the sky. This was their first meeting. After getting to know each other, I mustered up the courage to face Desertrian and become this generation's Pretty Cure Cure Moonlight.
Now Kolon is indeed in contact with a person named Tsukikage Yuri, but the problem is that Mirai cannot change the past, but the past can change Mirai. If Yuri in this time period does not become Pretty Cure, Yuri will stage a drama of "I will kill myself" if it is not good.
"Ash, what should I do now? You said the past cannot be changed... but it was obviously the Kolon I met in the past, but now?"
"Hmph, don't think of time as too fragile. At least there is no problem at this level." Compared to Yuri, who is currently in a state of confusion, Ash, who has experienced similar situations long ago, is not too worried. "The important thing is not the process that no one has noticed yet, but the result. As long as the fact that Yuri and Kolon meet is still achieved in the end, then if the world line is deceived and the middle part is slightly changed, it won't be a big problem."
Ash then handed Kolon, who was completely out of the situation, into the hands of Yuri. At this time, Kolon was shocked by the fact that Yuri's withered Heart Flower actually started blooming new buds again, and he was completely stunned.
"Hey, Kelong! What are you?" Seeing the soft and familiar face that he had not seen for a long time, the throbbing in his heart made him catch Kelong in a panic. Feeling the familiar hand, the feeling of joy and sadness welling up in his heart made Yuri look at the other person in confusion.
"Haven't you not seen your friends for a long time? Then let's experience it again while nothing has happened."